


When Blair Was Nine...

by Bluewolf458



Category: The Sentinel (TV)
Genre: Gen, Sentinel Thursday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-22
Updated: 2019-09-22
Packaged: 2020-10-25 21:49:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20731301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluewolf458/pseuds/Bluewolf458
Summary: When Blair was nine, Naomi went to live on a Hopi reservation





	When Blair Was Nine...

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Sentinel Thursday prompt 'prophet' or 'prophesy'

When Blair Was Nine...

by Bluewolf

Blair was nine when Naomi made the acquaintance of Tala Moki and went to live with him on a Hopi reservation.

Blair liked his Taa'ha Tala, but knew better than become too fond of him; Naomi would, he knew, get restless in a few months, and move on.

Within a few days, Blair realized that Taa'ha Tala was somehow aware of that, too. Aware that Naomi was unlikely to settle anywhere, but happy to settle for what she could give him. And in those few days Blair came to another realization; Taa'ha Tala was almost more interested in Blair himself than Naomi. Oh, not in any way that could be called improper; Tala was a medicine man, with duties to his people - and it seemed that he saw in Blair, young though the boy was, a fellow spirit; he began to teach Blair, treating him as an apprentice.

Both were careful not to let Naomi know the true facts of their relationship; both knew that despite Naomi's interest in the mystic, she would be far from happy to discover that Blair was being trained in the skills of the medicine man. She would be happy enough that he knew something of what a medicine man did, but far from happy that he was learning to use those skills. If he learned the skills, he would surely want to use them, and that meant - horror of horrors - settling down somewhere, accepting responsibility for the welfare of others. For Naomi, that might as well be called a prison sentence. Bad enough that she had the responsibility of looking after a child; but that responsibility was lessening and lessening, and another thing Blair knew was that soon she would consider her son able to look after himself. That she would soon see him as a permanent adult companion in her almost aimless journey through life.

But from somewhere - probably his unknown father - Blair had inherited a steadiness that his mother totally lacked, and he knew that this was what Taa'ha Tala saw in him. He knew that this was why this latest in a succession of 'uncles' was interested in him, knew that this was why Taa'ha Tala was teaching him; so that when the day came that the white man's laws accepted him as adult (rather than Naomi's sometimes vague ideas of when he'd be an adult), he would have knowledge that would help him to - yes, settle.

"I do see something of an unsettled future for you, however," Tala prophesied, one day when they were sitting gazing over the land while Naomi prepared their evening meal. (Although far from accepting domesticity, Naomi did enjoy cooking.) "At least for a while. You have a hunger, a need, for a more disciplined life than your mother embraces; you have a need to put down roots, something your mother will never understand. Don't misunderstand me, Blair; I'm very fond of her, and glad that she has chosen to share her life with me for a while. But her ancestors were gypsies, and she has inherited their restlessness, their need to move on, to see what is on the other side of a distant hill. You have not, and the day will come when you have to tell her that you want to settle..."

"I know," Blair said. "I want to study, to go to university - Mom doesn't really understand the need for education, apart from reading and writing, and most of what I know I've learned from reading. One thing I know from the way we've traveled around - I'm interested in people, and I'd like to study anthropology."

Tala nodded. "I can see that being very rewarding for you. That is part of why I've been teaching you the skills I have - and as well, you have the instincts of a medicine man. In some cultures you would be trained as a shaman - well, the two are much the same. Different words for the same skills. And don't forget - with a career in anthropology, you can still travel, to see how different tribes live; and that will, at least in part, resign your mother to your decision."

Blair nodded. "I don't say the urge to travel has completely passed me - I have enjoyed seeing many of the places we've gone to, and I'm aware that a career in anthropology would let me travel to some extent, though not as devotedly as Mom does."

He was silent for a moment. "I think that I will try to make the break when I'm sixteen. If it proves to be impossible, if Mom gets too stressed by the suggestion, I can wait till I'm eighteen. But somehow... although she's said she'd like my adult company, in many ways I think she'll be glad to be free of the responsibility of having a child - even an adult child."

Tala nodded again, fully appreciating the maturity that Blair was showing even while mentally bemoaning the fact that Blair was so... yes, cynical.

He wasn't sure just what lay ahead for the boy; but he was well aware that Naomi's interest in _him_ would only last some three or four months. He had that long to instil the basics of his skills in Blair's mind, for he was conscious that Blair would need them. He knew that there was something important for Blair to do with his life. Tala's gift of prophesy told him that; and not for the first time he regretted that his gift was so much weaker than his grandfather's had been. But at the same time, at least he had the gift. It had bypassed his father.

Qua'ah had taught him - as far as he was able to learn. But what Qua'ah would have been able to teach Blair...

Well, he would do what he could. Even a little knowledge was better than none.

Hopi words -

Taa'ha - uncle

Qua'ah - grandfather.


End file.
